Egg Donor Confidentiality

Our Commitment to Egg Donor Confidentiality

California Cryobank (CCB) is committed to maintaining every egg donor's privacy and anonymity. CCB also takes measures to protect the privacy of CCB’s clients, the intended parents, and any donor-conceived offspring.

CCB will not release confidential identifying donor information to an intended parent or donor-conceived offspring without the donor’s written consent. If CCB needs to contact the donor by telephone, letter, or e-mail, CCB will take steps to protect the donor’s anonymity. Donors are only identified to clients by an alphanumeric ID code.

Donors participating in the Open Donor Program will be contacted by CCB as described below.

Open Donor Program

To balance the concerns for donor privacy and confidentiality with a child's desire to know about his or her biological origins/heritage, CCB offers an Open Donor Program. This program is intended to support and respect the rights of donor offspring to gain information regarding their biological heritage while protecting the privacy of the donor.

What is an Open Egg Donor?

All CCB donors have the option of choosing to be “Anonymous” or “Open”. All donors undergo the same health and genetic screening and receive the same level of identity protection. Neither Anonymous Donors nor Open Donors are under any financial or legal obligation to support any children conceived using their eggs.

CCB Open Donors agree to one anonymous contact with each offspring resulting from their egg donations. This contact can occur only after the offspring reaches the age of 18 and is facilitated by CCB. No personal contact information is shared with either the offspring or donor.

In contrast, while CCB Anonymous Donors may be contacted by CCB at an offspring’s request, they are under no obligation to respond. All Anonymous Donor contact is also facilitated by CCB.

Donor / offspring contact may be in the form of an email, standard letter, phone call, or in-person meeting. The type (method) of contact is at the discretion of the donor. All parties shall remain anonymous until such time as there is a mutual agreement for CCB to provide personal contact information. California Cryobank (CCB) is not responsible for any direct interactions between donor and offspring not facilitated by CCB.

Why the Option to Become an Open Donor?

Many intended parents prefer to know their child may be able to make contact with their donor in the future. These individuals are looking for donors who have indicated they are open to such future contact. The Open Donor Program helps bridge the gap between a child's natural interest in learning more about their biological heritage and the donor's right to ongoing confidentiality.

Egg donation involves a screening process. Not all potential egg donors are selected. Not all selected egg donors receive the monetary amounts or compensation advertised. As with any medical procedure, there may be risks associated with human egg donation. Before an egg donor agrees to begin the egg donation process, and signs a legally binding contract, she is required to receive specific information on the known risks of egg donation. Consultation with your doctor prior to entering into a donor contract is advised.